Sing To The Pale
by Iridescent Hope
Summary: Something goes horribly wrong after the final battle with Yugi and Yami finds himself lost in downtown New York.
1. Sing To The Pale

Hey! Shout out to all you Requiem people! You rock!

**Prologue**

_Typos are very important to all written form. It gives the reader something to look for so they aren't distracted by the total lack of content in your writing.  
_- Randy Milholland ( Something Positive Comic 07-03-05 )

"So that's_ it_ then?" Jou stared incredulously as Yam- no, the name- no, damnit, he was _Atemu_, hung his head and turned away from Yugi. The latter had collapsed to his knees, tears slowly slipping down his cheeks at the sight of the Pharaoh's back. "After everything that's happened you're just going to up and leave us?"

"He has to." It was Isis and he wanted to smack her for being so infuriatingly calm. "Pharaoh Atemu doesn't belong in this time and now that Yugi has claimed the title of King of Games…" Even she couldn't finish the statement. As cold and removed as she tried to keep herself from the situation, even she couldn't deny the terrible loss. For Jou, Honda, Anzu, even Yugi, they were simply losing a friend. A dear and close one, but nothing more.

She was losing her life. Her meaning for living. Without his tomb to protect, his memory to preserve, what would she and her brother do…?

"No, Yami, you_ can't._" It was Anzu this time, one hand outstretched in a hopeless gesture. The great and suddenly multi-named Pharaoh – Jou thought it was fucking hi-_lar_-ious that the guy went from having none to have more than anyone could keep track of – ignored her and stepped toward the stone Obelisk. Bakura placed a hand on her shoulder and even Seto looked down, uncomfortable in the presence of her palpable sadness. "Please, you can't _leave_-"

"Stop, Anzu." At this the Pharaoh did pause; Yugi slowly rose to his feet. He kept his eyes to the ground, refusing to look at the back of the one who was abandoning them. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be. He has to go."

_Has to? Or wants to?_

"… I'm sorry, aibou…"

**-7-**

Something shifted and uncurled in the dark. A tendril of purple coalesced and then there was a woman's face, eerily familiar with deep crimson eyes.

_You can't come back yet Pharaoh. What you found may have been enough to banish Zork but it isn't enough to banish **me**._

What…?

**-7-**

There was a brilliant flashing of light and then nothing. Yugi sighed heavily while he stared at the now-empty spot, eyes drinking in the fact that his brain was refusing to acknowledge. Yami was gone. Atemu was gone. Whatever the _hell_ he wanted to be called, his mou-hitori-no-boku was _gone_.

Almost worse yet, the Millenium Puzzle was gone as well. Not _gone_ disappeared but locked forever back in the cover of his tomb. The God Cards were with the Pharaoh as well. _Everything I shared with him, it's all gone. Almost like he was never even **here**._

_Almost, except…_ Turning, Yugi smiled weakly at the spread of worried faces before him. Anzu was crying openly, Jou and Honda were glaring angrily at the engraved tablet the Pharaoh had disappeared into. Marik, Isis, and Rishid were holding one another, Mokuba had his faced pressed into Seto's side, and Bakura…

Bakura had stepped away from the rest of the group, looking awkward and unsure of himself. Why not? He was the cause of all the pain. Well, maybe not _him_ exactly but the spirit that was housed inside his body. The spirit that was poisoned by the malice from Zork…

_No, this was no one's fault. This was… just… fate. What was meant to be. _

And Fate can go fuck itself in the ass.

"Guys, I think I want to go home now…"

**-7-**

The afterlife was different than what Yami was expecting. For one, it was _dark_. And not late at night, sun's gone down and it's hard to see cause it's a new moon as well. No, this was hold your hand in front of your face and you can't even see it, can't even tell the difference between eyes open and eyes close because it's _that _dark, that completely fucking _dark._

It was quieter too, in a noisy sort of way. Utter silence unless he strained and then he could hear them, it, whatever the hell they were skittering in the distance.

He hadn't been hoping for much but sunlight and his _family_, yeah, he had been expecting that. And maybe a sort of Egyptian-y setting. Cause he was supposed to be going back with the spirits of the past, _remember that?_ Not that he really remembered too much about the past but the little trip he had just taken had refreshed a few memories. And on that note, where was Mahaado, Seth, Mana and the rest?

_Don't worry Pharaoh. This isn't your afterlife._

It isn't? He frowned, struggling to work the muscles in his mouth. Come to think of it, ever since he had arrived here there hadn't been much moving of anything. A lot of floating – standing, sitting, laying? – in nothing and thinking about how much it _sucked_ but no moving.

_No. Just think of this as a… transitional period._

Excuse me?

_Bodies can't just appear out of thin air._


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One – Give Your Hope To The Fallen Truth **

"_Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty."  
_Stephen King ( Roland from The Gunslinger )

**Two month later**

Seconds ticked down on the clock with a painful slowness that only a bored and impatient school student could know. Tapping his pencil rapidly against the plastic faux-wood cover of his desk, Honda sighed and slumped his cheek against the palm of his hand. _You'd think they'd cut us more of a break after having been gone so long saving the world but no…_

To the school's credit the teachers _had_ been understanding. Two weeks had been spent with everyone walking on eggshells, tests and papers handed back with 'complete' for the mark with carefully scribbled bits of advice along the edges. It was the media who had grabbed onto them with fangs and claws, trying their best to rip everyone – Yugi and Seto mostly – apart. Every detail and aspect of their stories had been gone over repeatedly during the flight back from Egypt but still Honda found his head spinning from all the incessant interviews and badgering.

But time passed and there was no evidence that anything had occurred other than a Duel Monster tournament. Even the so-called Knights of Oriekalkos hadn't undergone such scrutiny ( then again, Varon, Amelda and Rafael had managed to disappear complete and no one had heard from Mai ). Without any real basis for their suspicious the media quickly dropped their attention and life managed to work its way back to a semblance of normalcy.

Which meant school and tests and waiting for boring study halls to be over and struggling to pass classes that he hadn't even cracked books for in _months_ and trying to keep a rapidly-depressing Yugi from falling apart completely.

Yeah, life was almost easier when they were flying all over the globe trying to stop various evil megalomaniacs from different time eras who were trying to take over the world.

The bell – a low mid-toned C – startled him out of his reverie. Jerking up, Honda shook his head and reached down to grab the strap of his backpack. Students stood and started filing out of the room, the level of chatter quickly growing deafening. He stood as well and waited awkwardly, eyes scanning the room for a certain white-haired boy.

'_Honda –  
__i have to tell you something. keep_ _it quiet for now. meet after class  
__- Bakura'_

The note had been waiting on Honda's usual desk, folded into a neat square. Not one of those damn 'friendship envelopes' that the girls were too fond of making ( and that he was now on the receiving end with ever since the press had published the article "Hiroto Honda: Miracle Worker Behind The Scenes" ) so he had actually opened it when he found it. Bakura's writing was neat, just like the note. And just like everything about him, really. Go figure.

The classroom was nearly emptied when Bakura finally sidled up to the shark-haired boy. He looked nervous and distracted, causing Honda to raise an eyebrow. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he mumbled, eyes on the floor. Honda raised his other eyebrow. This was unlike Bakura. Very much so unlike him. "I can't tell you here. I can't… I can't _tell_ you but I need… I need to show you."

"Show… me." Honda blinked and shook his head. "Bakura-"

"Ryou." The white-haired boy grabbed Honda's arm, squeezing and digging his fingers in tightly. "_His _name… call me Ryou."

"… Ryou, are you okay? Is someone stalking you or-" Ryou shook his head and shifted the backpack up on his shoulder. "Um, okay." What could it hurt, really? And Ba-, er, Ryou _was_ his friend so he owed him at least that much. "Well, okay. Where is it that you want to show me?"

"Back at my apartment." A look of pure relief spread across Ryou's face and he grinned widely. "Don't worry, it shouldn't take _too_ long…"

"Yeah, okay." Honda rolled his eyes as the two of them walked out of the school building. Both of them lived nearby in town, making them both walkers instead of riders. ( Yugi, Anzu, and Jou rode the bus; Seto – whenever he bothered to show up – was chauffeured in a limousine ) "… So, Ryou, why do you want to show me…?"

"Because Jou's still just waiting for a chance to get me back for what happened with Zork, Anzu would go running straight to Yugi without thinking, and Yugi's too wrapped up in his own misery to focus or care." Ryou said all this bluntly, barely taking his eyes off of the sidewalk while saying this to Honda. The brunette blinked and then blanched, shaking his head. It was true but _harsh_. "A-and I really need someone who could try to view this objectively cause I think… no, really, I don't know _what_ to think but I didn't do this. It just _happened_ and I don't know _how_."

_Yeah… okay, why did I agree to go follow the crazy person? This has to be pretty high on the list of 'bad things to do' and I've practically **written** that list from what's happened._

The rest of the walk was in silence, Ryou seemingly lost in deep thought and Honda contemplating the best course of escape. The day watch waved as Ryou walked into the lobby and headed straight for the stairs. Honda had only been here once but he was starting to remember that the British boy's apartment was located toward the upper floors. It left a sinking feeling in his stomach as they started climbing the stairs, numbers steadily increasing.

_1… 2… 3…_ Ryou exited the stairwell, Honda on his heels. It was room 301. Ryou didn't even bother to unlock the door before opening it. Honda thought that was odd.

Then Honda thought he was going crazy. Because Ryou was standing next to him and Ryou was also inside, sitting at a small round table with a cup in his hand. The one at the table growled and snapped: "Yzios sela, kymckeqc." The one at the table wasn't Ryou.

It was Bakura.

"What… the… fuck…?"

**-7-**

There was a stretch of time that Yami couldn't remember. He assumed that much because he remembered floating in the dark with the entity speaking in his mind and now he was lying on cold ground. Cold hard ground. Cold hard ground that _hurt_, damnit.

With a groan he pushed himself up, forearms and palms scraping against rocks and glass. This was not Egypt. This was not his weird twisted nothing afterlife. This wasn't even what he envisioned hell would be. This was definitely more like one of the slums downtown Domino.

_But… uh, hello what? _He tried to stand and his legs wobbled. He slumped back against one of the coarse stone walls and made a sudden important discover.

Yami was very weak, very tired, and very naked. _Oh Ra, what the **fuck**?_

"Jia! Xjev vji jimm esi auy fuoph jisi?" He started and whirled around. There was a girl standing, wide eyed with a paper bag held tightly to her chest. "Epf xja esi auy… pelif?"

"Uh…" Yami crouched down, bare feet sliding over the broken glass. She cocked her head to the side and stepped toward him. "What… what are you saying?"

"Fupv auy tqiel Iphmotj?" With this she slowly leaned down, placing the bag on the ground. Her shoes crunched over the ground and Yami shrunk back, eyes darting from her to the space behind her. He probably _could_ dart by her but he felt so tired; he doubted he would make it far. And then there was the issue of his lack of clothing…

_And the fact that I'm even **here** to begin with. Is this Yugi's body or am I…?_

"Muul, On puv huoph vu jysv auy." She stretched one arm out and he hesitantly moved toward her. She smiled and tapped her hand against her jeans, fingers dancing over her thigh. "Aiej, vjevt ov. O lpux e qmedi vjev dep jimq auy."

The girl's voice was calm but something inside Yami snapped. He bolted past her, bare arm brushing against the cotton of her shirt. She turned, looking bemused and concerned but also understanding. It made it worse, fleeing from someone who only wanted to help. But he didn't know for sure, he couldn't understand _anything_ she said and he didn't get just _what the **fuck** was going on._

**-7-**

"Yugi! Dinner's ready!"

The tri-colored haired teen sighed and shoved his chair away from his desk. With a lowly mumbled 'yes mom' ( he knew she couldn't hear it but that wasn't the point ) he stood and walked mechanically over to his door. Before leaving Yugi looked back, his gaze lingering on the poorly made replica of the Millennium Puzzle that was lying on his desk. Ever since Yami had left he had been trying desperately to recreate it but even after all the _years_ he had spent with it Yugi still didn't know just _how_ it was made. But maybe, just _maybe_ if he could make another one Yami could…

"Yugi, come on! You have company!"

_Company?_ He shook his head and left his room, shutting the door carefully behind himself. _Damn, did Anzu and Jou stop by **again**_? True, Yugi really hadn't been doing much lately to alleviate their concerns about him but it was getting annoying the way they were treating him. He wasn't about to snap and kill himself or go on a mass murdering spree. He just wasn't quite ready to be… happy.

_All that time with him… but there's nothing I can do about it now. Better just put on a happy face and hope they don't get **too** nosy tonight._ Fixing a false smile on his face, Yugi clomped down the stairs while sniffing the air. Spaghetti and meatballs. Would be good if he was actually hungry… "Company? Who do you- Oh, hey! Anzu and Jou! What a surprise." The last part came out sarcastic despite his best attempt not to. They looked at each other – they were already seated at the table – and smiled awkwardly. His mother pretended not to notice and pushed him toward his seat. Grandpa was missing _again_.

"Well you disappeared so quickly after school." Anzu shrugged and stabbed a noodle with her fork. "Forgive us for wanting to make sure you were okay. I mean, can you _blame_ us?" His mother smiled nervously and placed a plate in front of him. Jou frowned and glared at that brunette, who continued on blithely unaware ( or at least she pretended to be ) "So you could stop trying to hide from us and just accept that we're going to help you whether or like it or not. And you might as well start liking it."

Yugi's mother fluttered for a moment, torn between protecting her son and ignoring the events around her. "I… I'm just going to go take some to grandpa." With a nod she started scooping spaghetti onto a plate and Yugi sighed. Everyone wanted to help him but no one wanted to deal with the consequences. "I'll be back in a few minutes hon." Everyone knew that wasn't true but all three teens nodded, Jou already starting to shovel the food into his mouth.

There was a stretch of awkward silence after his mother; neither one of the three wanted to be the first to break it. Jou stretched and accidentally hit Anzu with his elbow. She growled a low 'damnit' under her breath. He grinned widely and reached over to her plate, trying to snag her piece of garlic bread. She slapped his hand with the back of her fork and Yugi ducked his head down, trying hard not to smile. It was stupid and childish but he almost didn't want to be happy now. It seemed an insult to **his** memory.

"Hey, Yug, has Honda stopped by here?" The tri-colored haired teen shook his head and Jou frowned. "He wasn't home when I called his house and I figured he'd be stopping by here." Anzu snorted, twirling spaghetti on her fork.

"Like Honda would have enough foresight for that."

"And what's the supposed to mean? Me and Honda are best buds Anzu; you better watch yourself."

"I think you just proved my point."

Yugi couldn't help it this time, watching his two best friends go at it with each other. Maybe it was time for the sadness to go away, maybe his body had taken enough depressed and misery and was ready to rebel, but the laughter came out unbidden. He clutched the side of the table with one hand, the other crossed against his stomach as he bent forward. Jou and Anzu stared for a moment before grinning. "Man Yug, it's not _that _funny."

"I dunno Jou. Maybe he finally got a good look at your face."

"You should stop talking about yourself like that. It's really demeaning."

It hurt. It hurt in such a good way and he was crying now from the laughing. Anzu was giggling with him and Yugi inhaled sharply, snorting, and it sent all three of them into rounds of high-pitched squealing. Oh, yes, it hurt but it was _good-_

Until a sharp and heavy pain sliced through his chest and Yugi gasped, slipping from his chair to the floor. Anzu and Jou instantly sobered, Anzu shouting out in worry and Jou jumping out of his chair to kneel next to Yugi. He tried to tell them he was all right, tried to say anything, but the pain was choking his words and all he could do was useless gasp for air. God, it _hurt_.

And just as quickly as the pain overtook him it faded away. He gasped and wheezed and rubbed his chest but there was only the fading memory. Jou wrapped strong arms around him and Yugi sunk into his embrace. Anzu looked on, questioning and concerned. "Yugi? Yugi, what just happened?"

"I… I felt him." Jou and Anzu exchanged a glance and Yugi shook his head, looking up at them. "No, I really did. I felt _him_. Guys, I felt _Yami._"


End file.
